Systems and methods for identification of response cue at peripheral device

ABSTRACT

In one aspect, a first device includes at least one processor, a microphone accessible to the at least one processor, a communication interface accessible to the at least one processor, and storage accessible to the at least one processor. The storage bears instructions executable by the at least one processor to await first voice input comprising a response cue and receive, from the microphone, the first voice input comprising the response cue. The instructions are also executable by the at least one processor to, responsive to receipt of the first voice input comprising the response cue, transmit a wake up command to a second device different from the first device. The wake up command is transmitted via the communication interface using a peripheral device communication protocol.

BACKGROUND

Personal computers (PCs) consume a relatively high amount of power whenfully powered on. Therefore, to help conserve energy and battery power,PCs are sometimes put into a lower-power sleep state, but as a result donot have the same processing capabilities as when fully powered on. Topower the PC back on from such a sleep state, the PC may be woken up.

However, as recognized herein, many users desire “always-on”functionality for their PCs just as they do for their smartphones andtablets, which typically do not enter the same type of deep sleep statesas PCs. As also recognized herein, one reason for this is so that userscan provide voice input to a digital assistant operated by the PCwhenever they wish, without having to wait the relatively lengthy amountof time it takes for the PC to be awoken from its sleep state to then beable to process the input using the digital assistant. There arecurrently no adequate solutions to the foregoing computer-related,technological problem evident in these competing power saving andalways-on interests.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, in one aspect a first device includes at least oneprocessor, a microphone accessible to the at least one processor, acommunication interface accessible to the at least one processor, andstorage accessible to the at least one processor. The storage bearsinstructions executable by the at least one processor to await firstvoice input comprising a response cue and receive, from the microphone,the first voice input comprising the response cue. The instructions arealso executable by the at least one processor to, responsive to receiptof the first voice input comprising the response cue, transmit a wake upcommand to a second device different from the first device. The wake upcommand is transmitted via the communication interface using aperipheral device communication protocol.

In another aspect, a method includes receiving and identifying aresponse cue at a peripheral device, with the response cue beingidentified using a digital signal processor (DSP). The method alsoincludes transmitting, from the peripheral device and responsive toidentifying the response cue at the peripheral device, a wake up signalto a second device different from the peripheral device. The wake upsignal is transmitted to the second device using a communicationprotocol the peripheral device otherwise uses to communicate with thesecond device.

In still another aspect, a computer readable storage medium that is nota transitory signal includes instructions executable by at least oneprocessor to receive a response cue at a peripheral device. Theinstructions are also executable by the at least one processor totransmit, from the peripheral device and responsive to receipt of theresponse cue at the peripheral device, a wake up command to a seconddevice different from the peripheral device. The wake up command istransmitted to the second device using a communication protocol theperipheral device also uses to communicate with the second device forpurposes other than transmission of the wake up command.

The details of present principles, both as to their structure andoperation, can best be understood in reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which like reference numerals refer to like parts, and inwhich:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system in accordance withpresent principles;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example network of devices in accordancewith present principles;

FIG. 3 is an example illustration in accordance with present principles;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flow charts of example algorithms in accordance withpresent principles; and

FIG. 6 is an example user interface (UI) in accordance with presentprinciples.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As disclosed herein, wake mechanisms such as “wake on USB”, Bluetoothwaking, LAN waking, WLAN waking, etc. may be used for a peripheraldevice to wake up a PC once triggered by an “always-on” response cue orvoice trigger for a digital assistant that is received at a peripheraldevice.

Additionally, a voice request received at the peripheral devicesubsequent to receipt of the voice trigger may be buffered and thentransferred to the PC following PC wake-up (e.g., buffered at fasterthan real-time speeds at which the input was received). Following thetransfer of the audio buffer, a voice feed to the PC from the peripheraldevice's microphone may be transitioned to a streaming microphonesignal.

With respect to any computer systems discussed herein, a system mayinclude server and client components, connected over a network such thatdata may be exchanged between the client and server components. Theclient components may include one or more computing devices includingtelevisions (e.g., smart TVs, Internet-enabled TVs), computers such asdesktops, laptops and tablet computers, so-called convertible devices(e.g., having a tablet configuration and laptop configuration), andother mobile devices including smart phones. These client devices mayemploy, as non-limiting examples, operating systems from Apple, Google,or Microsoft. A Unix or similar such as Linux operating system may beused. These operating systems can execute one or more browsers such as abrowser made by Microsoft or Google or Mozilla or another browserprogram that can access web pages and applications hosted by Internetservers over a network such as the Internet, a local intranet, or avirtual private network.

As used herein, instructions refer to computer-implemented steps forprocessing information in the system. Instructions can be implemented insoftware, firmware or hardware, or combinations thereof and include anytype of programmed step undertaken by components of the system; hence,illustrative components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps aresometimes set forth in terms of their functionality.

A processor may be any conventional general purpose single- ormulti-chip processor that can execute logic by means of various linessuch as address lines, data lines, and control lines and registers andshift registers. Moreover, any logical blocks, modules, and circuitsdescribed herein can be implemented or performed with a general purposeprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or other programmable logic device such as an applicationspecific integrated circuit (ASIC), discrete gate or transistor logic,discrete hardware components, or any combination thereof designed toperform the functions described herein. A processor can be implementedby a controller or state machine or a combination of computing devices.

Software modules and/or applications described by way of flow chartsand/or user interfaces herein can include various sub-routines,procedures, etc. Without limiting the disclosure, logic stated to beexecuted by a particular module can be redistributed to other softwaremodules and/or combined together in a single module and/or madeavailable in a shareable library.

Logic when implemented in software, can be written in an appropriatelanguage such as but not limited to C# or C++, and can be stored on ortransmitted through a computer-readable storage medium (that is not atransitory, propagating signal per se) such as a random access memory(RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM) orother optical disk storage such as digital versatile disc (DVD),magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices includingremovable thumb drives, etc.

In an example, a processor can access information over its input linesfrom data storage, such as the computer readable storage medium, and/orthe processor can access information wirelessly from an Internet serverby activating a wireless transceiver to send and receive data. Datatypically is converted from analog signals to digital by circuitrybetween the antenna and the registers of the processor when beingreceived and from digital to analog when being transmitted. Theprocessor then processes the data through its shift registers to outputcalculated data on output lines, for presentation of the calculated dataon the device.

Components included in one embodiment can be used in other embodimentsin any appropriate combination. For example, any of the variouscomponents described herein and/or depicted in the Figures may becombined, interchanged or excluded from other embodiments.

“A system having at least one of A, B, and C” (likewise “a system havingat least one of A, B, or C” and “a system having at least one of A, B,C”) includes systems that have A alone, B alone, C alone, A and Btogether, A and C together, B and C together, and/or A, B, and Ctogether, etc.

The term “circuit” or “circuitry” may be used in the summary,description, and/or claims. As is well known in the art, the term“circuitry” includes all levels of available integration, e.g., fromdiscrete logic circuits to the highest level of circuit integration suchas VLSL and includes programmable logic components programmed to performthe functions of an embodiment as well as general-purpose orspecial-purpose processors programmed with instructions to perform thosefunctions.

Now specifically in reference to FIG. 1, an example block diagram of aninformation handling system and/or computer system 100 is shown that isunderstood to have a housing for the components described below. Notethat in some embodiments the system 100 may be a desktop computersystem, such as one of the ThinkCentre® or ThinkPad® series of personalcomputers sold by Lenovo (US) Inc. of Morrisville, N.C., or aworkstation computer, such as the ThinkStation®, which are sold byLenovo (US) Inc. of Morrisville, N.C.; however, as apparent from thedescription herein, a client device, a server or other machine inaccordance with present principles may include other features or onlysome of the features of the system 100. Also, the system 100 may be,e.g., a game console such as XBOX®, and/or the system 100 may include awireless telephone, notebook computer, and/or other portablecomputerized device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 may include a so-called chipset 110.A chipset refers to a group of integrated circuits, or chips, that aredesigned to work together. Chipsets are usually marketed as a singleproduct (e.g., consider chipsets marketed under the brands INTEL®, AMD®,etc.).

In the example of FIG. 1, the chipset 110 has a particular architecture,which may vary to some extent depending on brand or manufacturer. Thearchitecture of the chipset 110 includes a core and memory control group120 and an I/O controller hub 150 that exchange information (e.g., data,signals, commands, etc.) via, for example, a direct management interfaceor direct media interface (DMI) 142 or a link controller 144. In theexample of FIG. 1, the DMI 142 is a chip-to-chip interface (sometimesreferred to as being a link between a “northbridge” and a“southbridge”).

The core and memory control group 120 include one or more processors 122(e.g., single core or multi-core, etc.) such as a general-purposeprocessor/central processing unit (CPU) and/or a digital signalprocessor (DSP), and a memory controller hub 126 that exchangeinformation via a front side bus (FSB) 124. As described herein, variouscomponents of the core and memory control group 120 may be integratedonto a single processor die, for example, to make a chip that supplantsthe conventional “northbridge” style architecture.

The memory controller hub 126 interfaces with memory 140. For example,the memory controller hub 126 may provide support for DDR SDRAM memory(e.g., DDR, DDR2, DDR3, etc.). In general, the memory 140 is a type ofrandom-access memory (RAM). It is often referred to as “system memory.”

The memory controller hub 126 can further include a low-voltagedifferential signaling interface (LVDS) 132. The LVDS 132 may be aso-called LVDS Display Interface (LDI) for support of a display device192 (e.g., a CRT, a flat panel, a projector, a touch-enabled display,etc.). A block 138 includes some examples of technologies that may besupported via the LVDS interface 132 (e.g., serial digital video,HDMI/DVI, display port). The memory controller hub 126 also includes oneor more PCI-express interfaces (PCI-E) 134, for example, for support ofdiscrete graphics 136. Discrete graphics using a PCI-E interface hasbecome an alternative approach to an accelerated graphics port (AGP).For example, the memory controller hub 126 may include a 16-lane (×16)PCI-E port for an external PCI-E-based graphics card (including, e.g.,one of more GPUs). An example system may include AGP or PCI-E forsupport of graphics.

In examples in which it is used, the I/O hub controller 150 can includea variety of interfaces. The example of FIG. 1 includes a SATA interface151, one or more PCI-E interfaces 152 (optionally one or more legacy PCIinterfaces), one or more USB interfaces 153, a LAN interface 154 (moregenerally a network interface for communication over at least onenetwork such as the Internet, a WAN, a LAN, etc. under direction of theprocessor(s) 122), a general purpose I/O interface (GPIO) 155, a low-pincount (LPC) interface 170, a power management interface 161, a clockgenerator interface 162, an audio interface 163 (e.g., for speakers 194to output audio), a total cost of operation (TCO) interface 164, asystem management bus interface (e.g., a multi-master serial computerbus interface) 165, and a serial peripheral flash memory/controllerinterface (SPI Flash) 166, which, in the example of FIG. 1, includesBIOS 168 and boot code 190. With respect to network connections, the I/Ohub controller 150 may include integrated gigabit Ethernet controllerlines multiplexed with a PCI-E interface port. Other network featuresmay operate independent of a PCI-E interface.

The interfaces of the I/O hub controller 150 may provide forcommunication with various devices, networks, etc. For example, whereused, the SATA interface 151 provides for reading, writing or readingand writing information on one or more drives 180 such as HDDs, SDDs ora combination thereof, but in any case the drives 180 are understood tobe, e.g., tangible computer readable storage mediums that are nottransitory, propagating signals. The I/O hub controller 150 may alsoinclude an advanced host controller interface (AHCI) to support one ormore drives 180. The PCI-E interface 152 allows for wireless connections182 to devices, networks, etc. The USB interface 153 provides for inputdevices 184 such as keyboards (KB), mice and various other devices(e.g., cameras, phones, storage, media players, etc.).

In the example of FIG. 1, the LPC interface 170 provides for use of oneor more ASICs 171, a trusted platform module (TPM) 172, a super I/O 173,a firmware hub 174, BIOS support 175 as well as various types of memory176 such as ROM 177, Flash 178, and non-volatile RAM (NVRAM) 179. Withrespect to the TPM 172, this module may be in the form of a chip thatcan be used to authenticate software and hardware devices. For example,a TPM may be capable of performing platform authentication and may beused to verify that a system seeking access is the expected system.

The system 100, upon power on, may be configured to execute boot code190 for the BIOS 168, as stored within the SPI Flash 166, and thereafterprocesses data under the control of one or more operating systems andapplication software (e.g., stored in system memory 140). An operatingsystem may be stored in any of a variety of locations and accessed, forexample, according to instructions of the BIOS 168.

The system 100 may also include one or more communication interfaces 191for communication between a peripheral device and second device such asa personal computer as disclosed herein. The communication interface(s)191 may be for one or more of Bluetooth or Bluetooth low energycommunication, near-field communication protocol (NFC) and/or a radiofrequency identification (RFID) communication, universal serial bus(USB)/bus line communication (e.g., wired or wireless), a local areanetwork communication, wide area network (WAN) communication,Wi-Fi/Wi-Fi direct communication specifically, or even infrared (IR)communication.

Further, the system 100 may include an audio receiver/microphone 193that provides input to the processor(s) 122 based on audio that isdetected, such as via a user providing audible voice input to themicrophone 193 in accordance with present principles.

Additionally, though not shown for clarity, in some embodiments thesystem 100 may include a gyroscope that senses and/or measures theorientation of the system 100 and provides input related thereto to theprocessor 122, as well as an accelerometer that senses accelerationand/or movement of the system 100 and provides input related thereto tothe processor 122. Still further, the system may include a camera thatgathers one or more images and provides input related thereto to theprocessor 122. The camera may be a thermal imaging camera, a digitalcamera such as a webcam, a three-dimensional (3D) camera, and/or acamera otherwise integrated into the system 100 and controllable by theprocessor 122 to gather pictures/images and/or video. Also, the system100 may include a GPS transceiver that is configured to receivegeographic position information from at least one satellite and providethe information to the processor 122. However, it is to be understoodthat another suitable position receiver other than a GPS receiver may beused in accordance with present principles to determine the location ofthe system 100.

It is to be understood that an example client device or othermachine/computer may include fewer or more features than shown on thesystem 100 of FIG. 1. In any case, it is to be understood at least basedon the foregoing that the system 100 is configured to undertake presentprinciples.

Turning now to FIG. 2, example devices are shown communicating over anetwork 200 such as the Internet in accordance with present principles.It is to be understood that each of the devices described in referenceto FIG. 2 may include at least some of the features, components, and/orelements of the system 100 described above.

FIG. 2 shows a notebook computer and/or convertible computer 202, adesktop computer 204, a wearable device 206 such as a smart watch, asmart television (TV) 208, a smart phone 210, a tablet computer 212, aperipheral device 216, and a server 214 such as an Internet server thatmay provide cloud storage accessible to the devices 202-212, 216. It isto be understood that the devices 202-216 are configured to communicatewith each other over the network 200 to undertake present principles.

Describing the peripheral device 216 in more detail, it may be astand-alone keyboard such as a wireless keyboard, a stand-alone mousesuch as a wireless mouse, a stand-alone speaker such as a wirelessspeaker, or a stand-alone camera such as a digital 1201-2 camera,webcam, or wireless camera. The peripheral device 216 may also be astand-alone microphone such as a wireless microphone, but whether astand-alone microphone or another type of peripheral device such as awireless speaker or wireless keyboard it is to be nonetheless understoodthat the peripheral may include a microphone disposed thereon forreceiving voice input in accordance with present principles.

The peripheral device 216 may also include storage includinginstructions for executing logic in accordance with present principles,as well as a communication interface for communicating with a personalcomputer (PC) such as the desktop computer 204 or notebook/laptopcomputer 202 to which the peripheral device 216 may not be tangiblycoupled to or disposed on (even if wirelessly communicating with it).The communication interface may be, e.g., a wireless communicationinterface for communication using one or more of a Bluetooth orBluetooth low energy communication protocol, a near-field communicationprotocol (NFC) and/or a radio frequency identification (RFID) protocol,a universal serial bus (USB) communication protocol, a local areanetwork (LAN) communication protocol, a wide area network (WAN)communication protocol, or even an infrared (IR) communication protocol.

It is to be further understood that in addition to having its ownmicrophone, storage, and communication interface, the peripheral device216 may also include one or more processors, such as a digital signalprocessor (DSP), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or even anothertype of programmable logic device for receiving voice input of aresponse cue which may then be used to wake up a general-purposeprocessor/central processing unit on a second device as describedherein.

Continuing now in reference to FIG. 3, an example illustration is shownof how a user might employ a peripheral device to get the assistance ofa digital/personal assistant to perform a task. As shown in FIG. 3, auser 300 is sitting on a couch 302 in a room 304 while watching audiovideo content presented on a television 306. Also in the room 304 is adesk 308 having a personal computer 310 disposed thereon, such as alaptop computer. The computer 310 is understood to have adigital/personal assistant application stored in its storage that may beexecuted by the general-purpose processor/central processing unit (CPU)of the computer 310.

Also on the desk 308 are one or more peripheral devices, such as astand-alone Bluetooth speaker 312, a wireless keyboard 314, a wirelessmouse 316, and a stand-alone microphone 318. As may be appreciated fromFIG. 3, each of the peripheral devices 312-318 may wirelesslycommunicate with the personal computer 310 but are not tangibly coupledto the housing of the personal computer 310 such as via a wiredconnection or by actually being attached to the housing itself.

It is to be understood that in the illustration 300 shown, the personalcomputer 310 is in a sleep state in which the computer 310 has not beencompletely shut down into an “off” state but instead has been placedinto a lower-power state from a fully powered-on state. In the sleepstate, the computer 310 may maintain its state and/or loaded data in itsrandom-access memory (RAM) as might have been loaded into the RAM whilein the fully powered-on state (such as having its digital assistantapplication loaded into the RAM). Alternatively, in the sleep state thestate data from the RAM may have been moved from the RAM into hard diskdrive storage (sometimes referred to as a “hibernation” statespecifically). But in either case, the general purpose processor and/orCPU may be powered off while in the sleep state to conserve power, eventhough the state data may be maintained in RAM or other storage.

Additionally, also while in the sleep state, note that the computer 310may still maintain wireless communication with the peripheral devices312-318 using a wireless communication interface on the computer 310,with the wireless communication interface having its own processor(e.g., microprocessor) for maintaining such communication while thecomputer 310 is in the sleep state.

As shown in FIG. 3, the user 300 may provide first voice input of aresponse cue for a digital assistant of “Hey digital assistant”, whichmay be followed by second voice input requesting that a task be executedby the digital assistant. In this case, the second voice input includes“show me pictures of the Great Wall and the Taj Mahal”. Based on adigital assistant feature/application executing on at least one of theperipheral devices 312-318 using a DSP and/or FPGA on the respectiveperipheral device, and based on the voice input being received at theperipheral device via a microphone coupled to the housing of theperipheral device, the peripheral device may recognize the response cueusing the DSP (which may be configured or pre-programmed to recognizethe response cue) to then know to buffer ensuing voice input so that thecomputer 310 can eventually process the ensuing voice input and provideoutput as a response to the cue.

Thus, it is to be understood that the digital assistantfeature/application executing at the peripheral device may operate inconjunction with the digital assistant application as stored at thecomputer 310 so that once the computer 310 has been awoken from itssleep state the second voice input may be passed to the computer 310.The digital assistant application stored at the computer 310 may then beexecuted to process the second voice input and execute a task inconformance therewith. Any additional voice input received at theperipheral device after the computer 310 has transitioned out of itssleep state may then be streamed from the peripheral device's microphoneto the computer 310 so that the digital assistant executing at thecomputer 310 may process that input as well.

Note that without the response cue, any ensuing voice input might nototherwise be processed or buffered by the peripheral device since theuser 300 might just be speaking generally or to another person ratherthan providing voice input to a device. But because the response cue hasbeen provided, the peripheral device at which the response cue wasrecognized may transmit a wake up signal/command to the computer 310 toawaken, and the additional voice input of “show me pictures of the GreatWall and the Taj Mahal” may be buffered and then passed to the computer310.

Accordingly, once the computer 310 awakens and transmits a signal backto the peripheral device that it has awoken, the peripheral device maypass this buffered voice input to the computer 310 so that the digitalassistant that is now fully executing at the computer 310 may processthe input to perform a task. In this case, the task is presentingpictures on a display of the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal.

Example logic that may be executed by a peripheral device and personalcomputer in accordance with present principles is shown in FIGS. 4 and5. FIG. 4 shows example logic that may be executed by a peripheraldevice, while FIG. 5 shows example logic that may be executed by apersonal computer.

Beginning with FIG. 4, example logic is shown for execution by aperipheral device such as one or more of the devices 312-318 describedabove. In some examples, a DSP in particular may be used to execute thelogic.

The logic may begin at block 400 of FIG. 4, where the peripheral devicemay power on its microphone. In some examples, the microphone may onlybe powered on responsive to receipt of a wireless transmission from apersonal computer (PC) with which it communicates that the PC hasentered a sleep state. In other examples, the microphone may always bepowered on regardless of the power state of the PC.

From block 400 the logic may then proceed to block 402. At block 402 theperipheral device may await voice input of a response cue from a user.The logic may then proceed to block 404 where the peripheral device mayreceive voice input via its microphone. The logic may then proceed todecision diamond 406 where the peripheral device may, using its DSP,process the input as received from the microphone to determine whether aresponse cue was included in the input. A negative determination atdiamond 406 may cause the logic to revert back to 402 where the logicmay again await input of a response cue.

However, responsive to an affirmative determination at diamond 406, thelogic may instead proceed to block 408. At block 408 the logic maytransmit a wake up signal/command to the PC using a peripheral devicecommunication protocol. Examples of peripheral device communicationprotocols include a Bluetooth communication protocol, a universal serialbus (USB) communication protocol, a local area network (LAN)communication protocol, and a wide area network (WAN) communicationprotocol. The signal/command that may be provided may be a “wake-on USB”command or other USB wake up command, a Bluetooth wake up command, etc.But regardless, it is to be understood that the peripheral devicecommunication protocol that is used to transmit the wake up signal maybe one the peripheral device also uses to communicate with the PC forpurposes other than transmission of the wake up command. So, forexample, if the peripheral device were a wireless mouse using a wirelessUSB communication protocol, the wake up signal may be transmitted usingthe same protocol and transmission frequency that the wireless mousealso uses to transmit movement data to the PC for movement of a cursorpresented on a display of the PC based on movement of the mouse itself.

From block 408 the logic may then proceed to block 410 where theperipheral device may receive and buffer first voice input that isreceived, using the microphone of the peripheral device, subsequent tothe response cue. The first voice input may be buffered by storing it inRAM or other storage of the peripheral device. The logic may thenproceed to block 412 where the peripheral device may receive anindication from the PC that it has awoken from its sleep state.

Responsive to receipt of the signal at block 412, the logic may thenmove to block 414 where the peripheral device may transmit the bufferedfirst input to the PC, and in some embodiments may also transmit theinput indicating the response cue as well. From block 414 the logic maythen proceed to block 416 where the logic may stream any additional,second voice input received after the first voice input via theperipheral device's microphone for further processing by the PC'sdigital assistant.

Now describing FIG. 5, it shows example logic that may be executed by apersonal computer in accordance with present principles. Beginning atblock 500, the PC may place itself in a sleep state, such as responsiveto it being inactive or otherwise not used by a user for a thresholdperiod of time. From block 500 the logic may proceed to 1201-28′ block502 where the PC may maintain (e.g., periodic) communication with aperipheral device using a peripheral device communication protocol and adedicated processor for doing so, such as a microprocessor configuredfor doing so that is disposed within a network interface card or otherperipheral device communication interface on the PC.

From block 502 the logic may proceed to block 504. At block 504 the PCmay receive a wake up signal from the peripheral device that is receivedat the PC via the peripheral device communication protocol being used tomaintain the communication with the peripheral device. Responsive toreceipt of the wake up signal, the logic may proceed to block 506 wherethe PC may be awoken from its sleep state, and may begin or continueexecuting a digital assistant application stored at the PC that mighthave been executing prior to the PC entering its sleep state.

After block 506 the logic may proceed to block 508 where the PC maytransmit an indication to the peripheral device that it has been awoken,such as transmitting the indication via the same peripheral devicecommunication protocol through which the wake up signal was received.From block 508 the logic may proceed to block 510 where the PC mayreceive first voice input collected at the peripheral device itself thatwas buffered at the peripheral device while the PC awoke from its sleepstate, as provided by the peripheral device using the wirelesscommunication protocol.

After block 510 the logic may proceed to block 512. At block 512 the PCmay begin processing the first voice input using the digital assistantapplication executing at the PC. The logic may then proceed to block 514where the PC may receive any additional, streamed second voice inputthat might also be received via the peripheral device's microphone. Thelogic may then move to block 516 where the PC may continue processingthe first voice input and also process any second voice input that isreceived. Based on the processing of the input, the PC may perform atask in conformance with the first and second voice input. As examples,the task may be for the digital assistant to send an email to a contactof the user, to search the Internet for the answer to a question posedby the user, or to present photos as discussed above in reference toFIG. 3. Accordingly, it is to be generally understood that the functionsthe assistant is able to execute may be generally similar to thoseexecuted by, for instance, Amazon's Alexa, Apple's Siri, or the LenovoSmart Assistant sold by Lenovo (US) Inc. of Morrisville, N.C.

Continuing the detailed description in reference to FIG. 6, it shows anexample user interface (UI) 600 that may be presented on a display inaccordance with present principles, such as a display on or otherwiseaccessible to a PC. The UI 600 may be for configuring settings of adigital assistant in accordance with present principles. Each option onthe UI 600 that will be discussed below may be selected using therespective radio button shown adjacent to the respective option.

The UI 600 may include a first option 602 that is selectable to enablethe peripheral device usage for purposes of executing a digitalassistant to perform a task as disclosed herein. For example, selectionof the first option 602 may turn on a setting that enables execution ofthe logic of one or both of FIGS. 4 and 5 so that a response cue may bereceived at a peripheral device, be used to wake up a PC, and then haveadditional voice input received at the peripheral device be passed tothe PC for processing using the PC's digital assistant.

The UI 600 may also include options 604, 606 to respectively select aparticular peripheral device communication protocol to use forcommunication of wake up signals, voice input, indications, etc. betweena peripheral device and PC as disclosed herein. Thus, option 604 may beselected to enable use of USB wake up and/or USB communication, whileoption 606 may be selected to enable use of Bluetooth wake up and/orBluetooth communication. Still other peripheral device communicationprotocols may be listed as well, but only USB and Bluetooth have beenshown for simplicity.

The UI 600 may also include options 608, 610, and 612 to selectrespective, particular peripheral devices in communication with the PCto use for receiving response cues and voice input to pass to the PC asdisclosed herein. Accordingly, option 608 may be selected to enable useof a Bluetooth speaker that communicates with the PC, option 610 may beselected to enable use of a wireless keyboard that communicates with thePC, and option 612 may be selected to enable use of a stand-alonemicrophone that communicates with the PC. Still other peripheral devicesmay be listed as well, but only the Bluetooth speaker, wirelesskeyboard, and microphone have been shown for simplicity.

Moving on from FIG. 6, it is to be understood that in some embodiments atelevision may establish a peripheral device in accordance with presentprinciples. A smart phone or tablet computer and either of Bluetooth orWi-Fi communication may also be used, if desired.

It is to be further understood that that although the embodiments abovewere disclosed in relation to peripheral devices, in some embodiments anembedded module within a PC's housing may also be used in accordancewith present principles, using an internal connector.

Before concluding, it is to be understood that although a softwareapplication for undertaking present principles may be vended with adevice such as the system 100, present principles apply in instanceswhere such an application is downloaded from a server to a device over anetwork such as the Internet. Furthermore, present principles apply ininstances where such an application is included on a computer readablestorage medium that is being vended and/or provided, where the computerreadable storage medium is not a transitory, propagating signal and/or asignal per se.

It is to be understood that whilst present principals have beendescribed with reference to some example embodiments, these are notintended to be limiting, and that various alternative arrangements maybe used to implement the subject matter claimed herein. Componentsincluded in one embodiment can be used in other embodiments in anyappropriate combination. For example, any of the various componentsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the Figures may be combined,interchanged or excluded from other embodiments.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving and identifying aresponse cue at a peripheral device; transmitting, from the peripheraldevice and responsive to identifying the response cue at the peripheraldevice, a wake up signal to a second device different from theperipheral device; and presenting a graphical user interface (GUI) on adisplay, the GUI comprising an option that is selectable to turn on asetting that enables the receiving, the identifying, and thetransmitting.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the response cue isidentified using a digital signal processor (DSP).
 3. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the wake up signal is transmitted to the second deviceusing a communication protocol that the peripheral device otherwise usesto communicate with the second device.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe communication protocol is a universal serial bus (USB) communicationprotocol.
 5. The method of claim 1, comprising: buffering, at theperipheral device, first voice input other than the response cue;receiving, at the peripheral device, an indication that the seconddevice has transitioned to a wake state; and transmitting, from theperipheral device and responsive to receipt of the indication, the firstvoice input to the second device.
 6. The method of claim 5, comprising:transmitting, subsequent to passing the first voice input to the seconddevice, second voice input from the peripheral device to the seconddevice.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the transmitting of the secondvoice input to the second device comprises streaming the second voiceinput to the second device.
 8. The method of claim 5, comprising:receiving, at the second device, the wake up signal; waking, responsiveto receipt of the wake up signal, the second device from a sleep state;transmitting, from the second device and responsive to waking the seconddevice from the sleep state, the indication to the peripheral device;receiving, from the peripheral device, the first voice input; andexecuting, at the second device, a digital assistant to perform a taskaccording to the first voice input.
 9. The method of claim 1, whereinthe peripheral device comprises a keyboard.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the peripheral device comprises a mouse.
 11. The method of claim1, wherein the peripheral device comprises a television.
 12. The methodof claim 1, comprising: using a digital signal processor (DSP) in theperipheral device to receive and identify the response cue; and usingthe DSP to transmit the wake up signal.
 13. The method of claim 1,wherein the option is a first option, and wherein the GUI comprises atleast a second option that is selectable to specify use of theperipheral device to receive respective response cues and to transmitrespective wake up signals to the second device.
 14. The method of claim1, wherein the option is a first option, wherein the peripheral deviceis a first peripheral device, wherein the GUI comprises at least asecond option that is selectable to specify use of the first peripheraldevice to receive respective response cues and to transmit respectivewake up signals to the second device, and wherein the GUI comprises atleast a third option that is selectable to specify use of a third deviceto receive respective response cues and to transmit respective wake upsignals to the second device, the third device being a second peripheraldevice different from the first peripheral device.
 15. An apparatus,comprising: at least one processor; and storage accessible to the atleast one processor and bearing instructions executable by the at leastone processor to: receive a first response cue via a peripheral device,transmit, responsive to receipt of the first response cue, a first wakeup signal to a second device different from the peripheral device; andpresent a graphical user interface (GUI) on a display, the GUIcomprising an option that is selectable to turn on a setting thatenables the apparatus to transmit respective wake up signals to thesecond device responsive to receipt of respective response cues that arereceived via the peripheral device.
 16. The apparatus of claim 15,wherein apparatus comprises the peripheral device, wherein the apparatuscomprises a microphone at which the first response cue is received, andwherein the apparatus comprises a communication interface accessible tothe at least one processor, the communication interface being used bythe apparatus to transmit the first wake up signal to the second device.17. The apparatus of claim 16, comprising the display.
 18. The apparatusof claim 15, wherein the option is a first option, and wherein the GUIcomprises at least a second option that is selectable to specify use ofthe peripheral device to receive respective response cues and totransmit respective wake up signals to the second device.
 19. Theapparatus of claim 15, wherein the option is a first option, wherein theperipheral device is a first peripheral device, wherein the GUIcomprises at least a second option that is selectable to specify use ofthe first peripheral device to receive respective response cues and totransmit respective wake up signals to the second device, and whereinthe GUI comprises at least a third option that is selectable to specifyuse of a third device to receive respective response cues and totransmit respective wake up signals to the second device, the thirddevice being a second peripheral device different from the firstperipheral device.
 20. A computer readable storage medium that is not atransitory signal, the computer readable storage medium comprisinginstructions executable by at least one processor to: receive a firstresponse cue via a peripheral device; transmit, responsive to receipt ofthe first response cue, a first wake up signal to a second devicedifferent from the peripheral device; and present a graphical userinterface (GUI) on a display, the GUI comprising an option that isselectable to turn on a setting that enables the apparatus to transmitrespective wake up signals to the second device responsive to receipt ofrespective response cues that are received via the peripheral device.